THIS BLOG is created by the Arts & Media Archaeology team at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (ARIA, UAntwerp) and associated colleagues. We want to offer a peek behind the scenes of our research, including visits to unique archives or remarkable private collectors, seminars with international speakers, media archaeological experiments, and inspiring cases. Our aim is to showcase the varied and challenging nature of our research process.



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LATEST ARTICLES

From Congo atrocities to Ruwenzori heroism: The power of visual campaigns in Belgian colonial lantern lectures

One of the most arresting images from Belgian colonial history is the photograph of Nsala of Wala gazing at his daughter’s severed hand and foot, taken by English missionary and photographer Alice Seeley Harris in 1904. This disturbing image, capturing the atrocities of King Leopold II’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State (1885-1908), was not only a grim testament to the horrors of the rubber trade but also a powerful visual tool in the fight against colonial abuses. Projected during magic lantern lectures, Harris's photograph played a pivotal role in raising awareness of human rights violations under Leopold’s rule. These lectures were instrumental in building international pressure, which eventually forced the Belgian government to take control of the Congo from Leopold in 1908. However, the magic lantern was also employed to promote the Belgian imperialist agenda, particularly during scientific expeditions like the 1932 Ruwenzori mission, which sought to portray Belgian colonization as a benevolent and scientific endeavour.

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Der Komet shines digitally, over more than 140 years of fairground history

Since 1883, Der Komet has been a pioneering journal, serving as a compass for fairground entrepreneurs and travelling traders. The periodical played a vital…

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Politics on Show: The Magic Lantern Performances of Brussels Mayor Charles Buls

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Charles Buls, the forward-thinking mayor of Brussels, employed magic lantern performances not merely to display his…

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Decoding Fairground Newspapers: Analysing History with Large Language Models

Can large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) unlock the secrets hidden within historical documents, such as showpeople periodicals? This…

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About

This blog is an initiative of the Arts & Media Archaeology team at the Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts (UAntwerp) and associated colleagues.

We study the circulation of science, knowledge and visual culture through popular entertainment in the long nineteenth century. How were science and technology introduced to large audiences? What forms of knowledge were transmitted and disseminated through popular culture? What role did visual media play in the circulation of knowledge? At the same time, we look at how this culture continues to affect us today with attention to the changing relation between art and science.

Our interdisciplinary team brings together artists and researchers from Art and Performance Studies, Media Archaeology and Cultural History. We share an interest in the interactions between performance, science and technology, and their media archaeological entanglements.

FIND OUT MORE ON OUR RESEARCH PROJECTS

SciFair is a five-year research project (2021-2026) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 948678 – SciFair).

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